Page 45 of The Misfortune of Lady Lucianna

Luci watched as a small smile spread across her mother’s face, making her appear not much older than Luci herself. “I think you have the wrong impression, my little fox.”

“How?”

“He parades around his mistresses because I give him leave to. He decided early in our marriage he was not cut out to be the husband I desired, and so, he’s lived all these years without me by his side.”

“That is your choice?” Luci was shocked, stunned almost into silence. “Does it not hurt to see him showing off his mistresses?”

“At first, certainly.” The marchioness sighed. “I thought, ‘what have I done? I pushed my husband away because I could not bring myself to accept him for the man he is.’ Over time, this did not concern me because I have always had the task of raising you and your siblings in proper fashion.”

Luci doubted she knew her mother at all.

If one did not know their own flesh and blood, what would keep her from doubting every person she met and the society she’d been born into?

“Your brothers will grow to be kind, compassionate, humorous, loving, and loyal men. It is sad it took your father’s disloyalty to his family to show Matthew and Derek all the things they did not want to be.”

“What of Candace and me?” Luci asked. “Are we growing and learning in your image?”

“Heavens no, my child.” The marchioness came around and sat next to Luci on the bench. “I have raised the pair of you to be independent. Taught you to make your own decisions. Never fear risk—or the rewards that might come from it. Oh, and most importantly, I’ve taught you both to never allow a man like your father to dictate your life. Lucianna, use your cunning and your wit to take hold of your fate.” She squeezed her daughter’s hands.

“And what happens when I am gone?” Luci sighed. “You, Candace, and the boys will be alone against that monster.”

Her mother’s chuckle was infused with a deep hurt, driving Luci to apologize, but her mother held up her hand to silence her. “You cannot worry about us. Your brothers will leave for University before long, and Candace still has many lessons to learn, but I will endeavor to keep her away from your father.”

“And you?” Luci looked into her mother’s deep green eyes, so much like hers though they held an exhaustion Luci hadn’t noticed.

“I will continue as I always have, loving the man I married and praying every day he returns to the kind, honorable lord I was proud to wed all those years ago.”

Had her mother had a plan all this time?

An ache settled deep in Luci’s chest at the thought that her mother had known her goal all along but had not thought enough of her daughter to share. Luci could not believe that to be true.

“He is a horrible man, but you still love him.” Luci leaned her cheek on her mother’s shoulder. “That is—“

“The place that hope begins, draws strength.”

“How can you be so certain he will return to the man you married?” Luci begged.

“I am certain of nothing except where my own heart lies. And that is with your father.”

“Even if he does horrid things? Even when his temper gets the best of him? Even when he demands your daughter wed an unsavory, dishonorable man?”

“Just because the Marquis of Camden demands something does not mean it is to be.”

A rattle at her terrace sounded, pulling Luci’s attention from her mother to the windowpaned French doors leading onto her private veranda overlooking the street below.

“Did you hear that?” Luci asked.

Her mother tilted her head and listened, just as another round of rattling assaulted her panes.

She shook her head. “No, I am sorry. I do not hear a thing. However, I will request that Charlotte and the housekeeper allow you to rest. Someone will be by later this evening to stoke the fire.”

The women stood and embraced. How long had it been since she’d set her arms around her mother and pulled her close? She’d half expected to find the older woman’s shoulders gaunt and bony, as if she wasted away due to neglect, but her mother’s shoulders were as solid as Luci remembered them.

Another handful of pebbles clattered along the veranda and hit the window.

“Are you certain you hear nothing?”

Her mother smirked before pecking Luci on the cheek and turning to leave. “Have a restful night, my little fox. Do not forget, a fox always knows their way, even in the dead of night.”